Asia celebrates Vesak, festival honoring Buddha

People all over Asia are commemorating Vesak, an annual celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, with ceremonies, prayers, and candles.

In Sri Lanka, the festival has taken a special significance this year as the island nation is the venue for the 14th United Nations international Vesak celebrations, with tens of thousands of people visiting the capital Colombo from across the country for the event.

Colombo was decorated with pandols (colored lanterns and lights) and Buddhist flags. People also organized hundreds of dhansalas, or stalls set up to hand out free food and drinks to festival visitors. More than two thirds of the island's 20 million people are Buddhists. — Reuters